What I Learned About Potions by Sleeping with the Master
by Harmony Goldstar
Summary: Post-war. Hermione struggles with her uncertain future and finds herself trapped in a situation she never thought would happen to her. Luckily the right people are there to help. AU in that no one died.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! Thanks for giving this a read. Just a warning, this story is definitely going to be rated M. It's based on something that happened to me that I need to get out there. Thanks for your support!**

It started before I did. While spending Christmas at the Burrow during my one year belated seventh year at Hogwarts, Charlie Weasley asked what I planned to do after graduation. So I told him. I'd applied for an apprenticeship with Professor Snape. While I had no idea what I wanted to do forever, I figured a mastery in potions would get me a long way no matter what I decided I wanted later on. And Charlie, who I've only met a few times, sat me down and gave me a horrifying warning.

"Hermione, Snape hits on anything that moves. You're an attractive girl, he's going to go after you. I worked with him as an apprentice after graduation for about a year. The way he treats women is disgusting."

"Thanks for the warning Charlie. But that stuff doesn't bother me."

It was true. After the war, little things like a man flirting with me didn't bother me. If only I had known.

Fast forward through the school year. My application was accepted. Snape accepted me! So the day after graduation, I sat in his office with Professor Dumbledore to sign my apprentice contract. I was to have the summer off and to return to the school with the rest of the staff on August 2nd to begin my apprenticeship in anticipation of the new school year. I was beyond thrilled. I had just accepted the best job I could have ever imagined. Two years ago, I hated Snape. There were a thousand reasons to never take a job with him. But it was a job, and not only that, one that I wanted. Besides, after the war, even this far after the war…

It was the night of the final battle. Harry was in the forest and Ron and I were fighting with the others. I tripped, I was hit with a curse, and I remember nothing until waking up days later in St. Mungos, where I was greeted with a horrifying new reality.

"Miss Granger, I'm glad you're awake. How are you feeling?" the elderly healer asked. How was I feeling? I reached for my wand beside me to dim the overly bright lights. Nothing happened.

"Now now dear don't try to exert yourself, you're just barely recovering from a nasty curse."

"What happened? Harry, Ron, the others?"

"Your friends are quite the heroes. You are yourself dear, they'll be relieved to hear you're awake."

"It's over then? He's gone?"

"Yes. It's over. Now, how about we get you up and walking?"

I slid to the edge of the bed, and slowly stood. I took a step at the healer's urging and nearly collapsed with pain. She quickly levitated me back to the bed.

"What happened to me?" I asked, terrified by the battle that I didn't remember.

"You were hit with a curse. We don't know what it is, but it seems to have drained your magic severely. There was no permanent damage to your core," she continued at my horrified look. Magic was my life now. Without that… I would have nothing left. "However, the curse also shattered the right half of your pelvis. That would be the cause of the pain you've just experienced. We used a combination of healing spells and skelegrow, but we weren't able to completely repair your bones."

Maybe it was weakness on my part, emotional trauma, physical pain, but I burst into tears.

"Don't worry dear, your bones should heal more on their own. You'll be able to walk again in 6 to 8 weeks. By that time your magic should be completely recovered too." She handed me a tissue. "Is there someone I can floo for you?"

"Harry, please get Harry," I sobbed.

I was able to leave the hospital a week later, with the help of muggle crutches. Harry, Ron and Ginny were staying at Grimmauld Place, and it seemed most logical that I went there. The boys cleared out a room off the kitchen and made it into a bedroom for me so I could be on the same floor as the library and the kitchen.

For months, all we did was sit around and talk. The boys played exploding snap or chess, and I read. Ginny would join in with them sometimes, but some days she sat in silence looking out the window, or took a nap. It was probably the best summer I'd had since leaving the muggle world. Neville and Luna would come by sometimes, and of our other classmates would either send letters or stop by. We rarely went out, given our recently found fame and my inability to function, but it was a good time nonetheless.

At the beginning of July, all four of us received mail from an unfamiliar owl. On the defense, I attempted a simple detection charm on the letters, finding no harm, and no symptoms of exhaustion. The charm worked. The healers were right, my magic was recovering. I was beaming, and ripped open my letter.

 _Dear Miss Granger,_

 _I would like to inform you that Hogwarts will reopen to all students on September 1_ _st_ _. Regardless of your age and current status with the school, you are welcome to return to complete your education this fall. Please send word with your decision and what year(s) you wish to enroll for should you decide to return._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

I looked up from my letter to see the boys still reading. Ginny and I locked eyes, and I nodded. After a second, she did as well. We had to finish what we started.

"No bloody way I'm going back, mate, imagine doing homework now?" Ron exclaimed.

"I don't know, Ron, it might be nice to go back. Think, another year of Quidditch!" Harry said.

"Besides," Ginny added, "what else are you going to do? Get a job?"

Ron's face fell.

"Oh. Right. Well I guess."

And so we were all going back. By the middle of July, I was able to walk on my own. Not very fast, or for very long, but it was something. My magic grew stronger each day, and that helped too. I was slowly going crazy in the drawing room at Grimmauld Place surrounded by my best friends but isolated from everything else.

Thankfully before that happened, it was time to gather school supplies from Diagon Alley. We all went out together. Harry apparated with Ginny and came back for me since Ron wasn't able to side-along and I couldn't do it by myself yet. Neville, Luna, Lavender Brown and Dean Thomas met us outside the book shop, and we proceeded to purchase our supplies. I was amazed by how different the street looked than it had when I was here last in the midst of the war. Once empty streets were full again, lined with brightly colored signs and all sorts of shops. It was a different world, although not so different from the one I entered that very first day with my parents and Professor McGonagall.

Before I knew it, it was time to catch the train to school, for the very last time. It had been months since the attack. I was mostly back to normal, although I was unable to carry heavy objects or walk for an extended amount of time. My magical abilities were within range of an average witch my age, and I only had difficulty with the toughest of spells. The professors were all aware of my limitations, and I was sure I couldn't be the only one.

That school year was the same as any, except there was less stress and less danger. I had learned some things during the war—things I needed to see. It changed me.

But that last year of school isn't the story, just it's beginning. It all started that first day of my apprenticeship with Snape.


	2. Chapter 2

On August 2nd I moved into the castle for the first time as an adult. It was strange to be shown to my own rooms, with only the staff present. My rooms were on the fourth floor, with a lovely view of the grounds. I had a small sitting room to entertain guests, and my bedroom. Both were decorated similarly to the Gryffindor common room, although the house theme was toned down a bit. I unpacked quickly, eager to begin my apprenticeship. The next morning there was a staff meeting, which I sat through with little interest, as I was technically part of the staff but not responsible for things like patrols yet as I was primarily still a student. That afternoon was my first alone with Severus Snape. That was when it started.

We sat in his office and discussed his expectations and mine. We got to know each other. Although I had just recently been a student, and we had been seemingly on opposite sides of the war, we got along well. He presented me with a leather journal, connected magically to an identical one he had, for us to communicate. It was faster and less messy than owls, he had explained, and helpful if we needed to communicate during a class discretely.

Shortly after, we began work restocking the hospital wing for the upcoming school year. It was hot in the lab, standing over boiling cauldrons every day, so I took to wearing short sleeved blouses in an effort to keep cool. As an adult now, I had branched out into the world of cosmetic charms, and would frequently charm my lips a different color every day. Some days were normal, pink or red, others I went all out with black or electric blue.

As it was still summer, I was able to leave the castle to visit my friends or go shopping in the evenings or on weekends. At the end of the first week working together, Severus and I were having a casual conversation while bottling the last of our potions.

"Any plans for the weekend?" he asked.

"Oh I have a date tonight with someone from the Ministry," I said, hoping I didn't sound too desperately excited. "What about you?"

"Just some research. Minerva's making me go with her to Diagon Alley on Sunday." He sounded sullen about it.

"Well have a good weekend sir!"

I had noticed him checking me out all week, and I noticed it when I left the lab that Friday. I chose to ignore it. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I wasn't about to pass it up.

Monday morning found me back in the lab after breakfast to brew skelegrow for the first time. I was focused on my work and barely paid Severus any attention all day. I noticed him scowling at me across the lab a couple times. Mid afternoon, I stopped for a quick lunch while the skelegrow simmered for 42.5 minutes. I headed into the office to find sandwiches and pumpkin juice already on the desk. Severus was having lunch as well, so we began to talk.

"How was your weekend?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows at me, mouth full of sandwich.

"How was your date?" he asked.

"Not that great," I replied. "I'm going to be so busy here, I'm not sure it's a good idea to get involved with someone from the Ministry."

"You could always date me," Snape said. I snorted into my pumpkin juice. Ha.

"Sure," I laughed. Good joke.

"You look like you got some sun this weekend," he said, and I could see his eyes wandering.

"Yeah. Harry, Ron and Ginny were playing Quidditch and wanted an audience."

I went back to finish my potion, and was struck by the strangeness of Snape's behavior. I figured without the Dark Lord breathing down his neck he was bound to be nicer. That had to be it.

I bottled the skelegrow just before dinner.

"Walk up with me?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied as I grabbed my robes.

"You don't need to put those on, there aren't students yet," he said as I pulled my robes over my shoulders.

I switched topics, slightly uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me. We walked quickly to the Great Hall.

"So how do you think you did on the skelegrow?" he asked.

"You know it's perfect Severus."

"Awfully cocky aren't you Granger?"

"I'd take it myself. And I've taken enough of it to know what it looks and smells like."

"Right," he said, taken aback. "Might I ask, what happened?"

"I don't know. I mean, it was during the battle. I don't remember." We had reached the Great Hall by then, but dinner didn't start for another ten minutes and we were the only ones at the staff table.

"What I mean is, I have no idea how it happened, but I got hit with a curse that drained my magical core and shattered the right half of my pelvis beyond magical repair."

"But you've recovered well. You can't tell looking at you now."

"It's been over a year. But there are still limitations. I can't run. I can't jump. I can't do... other things." I wasn't about to tell Snape, my boss, about my lack of a romantic life due to my fear of reinjuring myself in the bedroom.

"These things take time. You'll get there," he said, laying a reassuring hand on my leg.

The week flew by, brewing burn salves, and contraceptive potions for the infirmary. The day I brewed the contraceptives Severus came into the lab just as I was bottling the potions.

"Feel free to take some if you need those," he said. I looked up at him, shocked.

"I use the spell when I need it thanks," I replied, mentally kicking myself as the words came out of my mouth. Why did I say that?

"Well if you dated me you wouldn't need it. I can't have kids."

"Oh," I said. I could tell he was trying to make a joke, but the way he looked at me when he said it felt weird.

Despite this, Severus and I continued to get along. Very well. I began to let my guard down. Any hesitation I had had about taking the position had faded.

I began to see more of the staff at dinner, and it became quite the social event the closer we got to September 1st. Minerva, and Albus, as they insisted I call them by their first names now, checked in with me on various evenings, wanting to see how things were going.

"We're getting along really well actually. I think I'm pretty well adjusted."

"That's wonderful. Let me know if you have any questions or if there's anything I can do to help you," Minerva replied.

"Thanks."

For all my time with Severus during the day, I was quite lonely in my quarters at night. Once the school year started I knew I would be busy with grading and lesson plans, but for now, it was just me in my room. It gave me plenty of time to think, and I was coming face to face with another uncomfortable reality. Did I maybe, just a little bit, have feelings for Snape?

I wrote Ginny about it, wondering if I was losing my mind, or maybe just needed to get out more. As I anxiously awaited her reply, I decided that I did have feelings for him. Not that it meant anything. He was what, 40? He'd been my teacher.

Ginny's reply? You're crazy. You just spend too much time with him. Get out more. Thanks Gin, real helpful.

The Friday before school started, we sat in the office having gone over the schedules and my responsibilities during the school year. Business conversation over, we were now joking around, if one could say joking around in reference to Professor Snape. I was wearing a modest peach tank top and had charmed my lipstick to match. During a lull in conversation, I noticed he kept looking at my lips. I ignored it and asked if he had any plans for the weekend.

"I'm going to get a rare potion ingredient in Ireland. Want to come?" he asked.

"No thanks, I'm supposed to meet Ron for lunch."

"I thought you weren't a thing?"

"We're not. Just friends."

He stood up and walked to the other side of the room. I picked up the closest schedule and went over it again. Monday morning was first year Gryffindors and Slytherins. That should be fun. I looked up and Severus was standing right next to me. Before I knew what was even happening, his lips were on mine. Snape is kissing me. I'm kissing Severus Snape. The sound of the floo activating forced him to step away from me. I frantically re-did my lipstick charm as Dumbledore climbed out of the fireplace. Act normal, Hermione, and I did. Except I was panicking inside. Dumbledore must know something.

"I'm going to go get ready for dinner," I said, and rushed from the room, mortified at the prospect of being caught with Snape.


End file.
